Welcome. Welcome, everybody. I've got exactly 11:00 AM Eastern, and I am coming to you live on Eastern Time. I think this is maybe the first time I have done a Waking Up Well from Michigan. I am in my home state, home for a little bit of summer fun and holiday, and it's nice to see you all. Welcome. My name is Brett Powell. I am the president of American Institute for Preventive Medicine, and for the next 15 minutes, and only 15 minutes, I will be your host for Waking Up Well, where we are hoping, A, that you already have woken up well, but if you have not, there's still plenty of time, and we will attempt to change that within the next 15 minutes. Where we are also always attempting to answer the question as to whether or not 15 minutes can change your day for the better. We hope the answer is yes. And I am feeling great. It is great to be back in Michigan, especially for the summer. Everybody's complaining about the heat. You won't find me complaining about the heat. I grew up here. I know how cold it is in the winter and how gray it is. I am happy to be warm and see the sun and outside. So, it is great to be here. Is there anything in particular that you are looking forward to this weekend? We, of course, have the big holiday, July 4th, coming up. Is there anything that you are doing that you're looking forward to? Let us know. I love being home for July 4th. It is a long weekend. And, yeah, feel free to share with us what it is that you might be getting into. And if you don't know what you're getting into, we'll have maybe a little bit of a chance to think about that toward the end of the session. So July 4th, for me, has always been a favorite holiday. I grew up here in Michigan, and I think summertime, my birthday is also at the end of July, so July, it's like the beginning of a great month for me. And summer was always my favorite season, so the ability to be outside. I always equated July 4th with being on the water, being with friends, being with family, eating good food, and it was a big celebration where everybody comes together to celebrate the anniversary of our country. So, just always had good feelings about the holiday. One of my favorites, for sure, every year. And then things changed when I moved away from Michigan. I started feeling a little bit differently about the holiday because I was either traveling back just for the long weekend, which I enjoyed coming back for July 4th, but then it sort of felt rushed. I wasn't just able to fully relax and enjoy the holiday. I was busy trying to fit in seeing all of my family and friends, and it felt like I had an agenda to complete when I was here for just that brief period of time. Or, on the flip side, I would not come home at all, and then I'd feel like I was missing out on my favorite holiday at home. And so this year, I am so pleased to report that it's a little bit different. We're going to be home for about a month. So our home in Austin, Texas, is having a little bit of work done on it anyhow, so the timing worked out where we could come back to Michigan, spend a good amount of time here. We're thinking about a month, and it feels like we have finally achieved the dream of a summer stretch here in Michigan, where we can genuinely stretch out, spread our wings a little bit, relax, and fully embrace the summer here in Michigan. Which also is a good time to get out of the Texas heat. So I'm feeling good. I'm feeling like I don't need to rush around seeing friends and family. I can let that come organically, and feeling really good about that. So before we get into talking about how we can all make the most of this weekend, I want to take a minute and just talk about this particular July 4th, because it is a little bit different. This year marks the semiquincentennial. Semiquincentennial. That's a word you might not want to say 10 times fast. 250 years since the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. 250 years. That's a long time for anything to stick around, let alone an idea about how people ought to govern themselves. So here's a fun piece of trivia that you may not know. You know I like these fun little facts. The actual vote for independence happened on July 2nd, 1776, two days prior to the date that we celebrate. This is when the delegates passed what's called the Lee Resolution. Now, July 4th is the date that they formally adopted the written declaration itself, the Declaration of Independence. That's the document that we all recognize with the opening line about life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. And here's another little-known fact about this whole sequence of events, is that most of the 56 signers, there were 56 people that signed that original document They didn't actually put their names on that parchment until August 2nd, which was a full month later. So the date that we celebrate is not the date of the vote, and it's certainly not the date of the signing. That happened a month later. It's the day that the words themselves on the Declaration were finished and agreed upon. Now, I think there is something fitting about that for what we are going to do today. The people that wrote that original document didn't just react to the moment they were in. They sat down, they put real intention into words, and those words shaped the next 250 years of this country. The day that we celebrate is really the day where the intention for the United States of America was set. And so what we're going to do is that on a much smaller scale. We're going to do a version of that for ourselves and for our own weekend as we celebrate July 4th. So think of intentions as a way to enjoy the holiday in this case, or any part of your life more fully. To do the things that you want to do, as opposed to waking up on Monday morning and wondering how the weekend flew by without you accomplishing what you had intended to do. Setting intentions gives you a sense of control and clarity. It prevents the waking up with I wish I had feeling afterwards. There is some research behind this too. Research does show that people who set intentions are more likely to follow through with those actions and feel better about their choices afterwards. A study published in American Psychologist found that people who form clear intentions are two to three times more likely to follow through, compared to those who just simply think about vague goals. Now, research also shows that intentions can reduce stress and foster a greater sense of satisfaction with how your time is spent. Holidays can be stressful with family, friends, obligations, lots of people around, sometimes pressure. This can be stressful. If you set intentions around how you want to spend your time, it can help ease some of that stress. So you can think about intentions in terms of four categories. This is just a framework. You can take it or leave it. You can set intentions in any way that you want. There is no right or wrong way, but I think about it in terms of these four categories, and they are connection. Who do you want to spend meaningful time with? Rest. How can you carve out space for yourself to recharge, even among a busy time and a busy weekend? Joy. What sounds good to you? What do you really want to do that's going to bring you joy? And then growth. Is there something small that you'd like to learn, reflect on, or practice? So is there anything in the area of connection, rest, joy, or growth that you would like to set an intention with? Some examples that I can share with you, again, they can be anything. They can be simple. They can be fun. They don't have to be big and virtuous by any means. Simple is good. So it might just be something like, "I want to spend time with my kids without checking my phone," or, "I want to spend time with my spouse," or a cousin, or whomever the person is. "I plan to enjoy my favorite dessert fully without feeling guilty about it." I know I plan to do that with cookies because I have a very, very strong weakness for cookies. "I'll set aside an hour to do absolutely nothing and relax." Are you going to set aside a specific time where you can recharge, recuperate, relax? "I want to enjoy a few drinks, but I'm going to limit it to three." So I'm going to indulge, I'm going to have a few drinks, but I'm going to limit myself. And then another example, "I'm going to reach out to someone who won't be in town, but whom I want to connect with." So for me, I'm going to make sure that I actually sit down one-on-one with a few people that I don't get to spend a lot of time with. And instead of just sort of being in a group and in a loud setting and the chaos of lots of events outside, I'm going to set some time aside, 10, 15, 20 minutes, to get some one-on-one time with friends and family that I don't often get to see. So now I want you to take a moment and think about what intentions you might have for yourself this weekend. You can write them down. If you feel so inclined, you can share them in the chat, although there is no pressure whatsoever to share anything in the chat. Just think about what you might want to do. How do you want to spend your time? What intentions would you like to set for the weekend? Take just a moment and think about those. Just looking through the chat, and it looks like you all have such great plans for the weekend. So maybe you've already thought about what your intentions are based on who you're going to be with, what you're going to do with them, how you're going to spend your time. But think about if there's anything specifically, again, you can use the areas of connection, rest, joy, and growth if that framework helps. Or you can come up with something on your own. So I see, "Being present with those I'm visiting, no distractions." Yeah I've noticed that putting my phone away when I'm connecting with people that I really want to spend time with, and not even having my phone with me is incredible in terms of just making more meaningful connection and making more use of that time, better use of that time. Even just having the phone out in my pocket, thinking about it, it's buzzing. I don't even want it near me. I just want to focus on the connection. Laughing, I love this. Laurie says, "Laughing with friends and family." What could be better than laughing? Seeing your grandson. Unpacking, trying to get some craft projects in. Great. Unpacking is a big project, so this seems like a good time. You've got some extra time off to be able to do that. "Being intentional about connecting with our friends by offering to host a get-together." That's great, Melissa. So hosting is a great way to connect. Some great stuff here, so thank you for sharing. Decluttering, Denise. I can always declutter, but I hate getting rid of things. So I have a love-hate relationship with the decluttering. So, all right. So you have set some intentions. You've written them down. They are now there. If you don't end up accomplishing everything that you wanted to do, that's totally okay, too. But remember, the research says that you are more likely to follow through, feel better about it, and feel less stressed if you make the intention real. So this is all just a matter of attempting to make the most of our time, thinking about it. Why do we have this time off? What do I want to do with this time off? And that exercise alone has set you up for success. So appreciate you sharing. In closing here, it's been 250 years since our Founding Fathers formed a small group, and they put their intentions into words and ended up signing the Declaration of Independence. We now know August 2nd is when it was completely signed, and those intentions completely changed the direction of our country and of our world. Now, you just did the very same thing on a much smaller scale for your own weekend. So I hope that you go and enjoy it. We are here for you each and every Wednesday, no matter where I am, whether it's Michigan or Texas or anywhere in between. You are welcome to invite anybody from your organization, friends, family. Everyone's welcome to join "Waking Up Well" every Wednesday morning, so feel free to share, and I hope that you have a wonderful day. Stay safe, stay healthy, and we will see you next week. Happy Fourth, everybody. Take care. Bye.